Chiarelli allowed Iginla to leave Bruins for Avalanche

By the time the free agent market opened Tuesday at noon, it was a fait accompli for Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli that Jarome Iginla was as gone as the winter snow.

By Dan CagenDaily News staff

By the time the free agent market opened Tuesday at noon, it was a fait accompli for Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli that Jarome Iginla was as gone as the winter snow.

Chiarelli spoke with agent Don Meehan on Monday night and again Tuesday morning, but the sides were being pulled in opposite directions by the business of the hockey world. The Bruins were hamstrung by the salary cap and couldn’t offer more than a one-year deal; Iginla wanted the security of a long-term contract as he plays out the back nine of his career.

As a team source noted Tuesday afternoon, shortly before Iginla’s new three-year contract with the Avalanche was announced, the Bruins knew "long ago" that the ship had sailed on bringing the 560-goal scorer back for a second season.

Iginla’s new contract is for three years and $16 million, and includes a no-movement clause. They are numbers the Bruins could have matched only by moving out at least one body, a salary purge Chiarelli was not willing to undertake.

"I really wanted to try and keep most of this group together, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that to sign Jarome," the GM said. "Those are hard decisions that sometimes you have when you are cap challenged, but I kind of like where we are."

Chiarelli had his eye not just on this summer, with entry-level free agents Torey Krug and Reilly Smith still in need of contracts for this season, but next summer, when the Bruins will have to break the bank to retain some of their stars. Johnny Boychuk, David Krejci and Carl Soderberg are unrestricted free agents, Dougie Hamilton a restricted free agent. In 2016, Milan Lucic is a UFA. All are significantly younger than Iginla and deemed to be bigger pieces of the Black-and-Gold puzzle.

"These are good players, so I have to be cognizant of that," Chiarelli said. "So that is one of the reasons why we didn’t do it and I decided not to make those moves."

There are two options to replace Iginla. One is on the trade market. Chiarelli noted that with David Warsofsky ready to make the jump to the NHL, the Bruins are now carrying nine capable defensemen and will need to shed themselves of at least one. The Bruins have their rods in the water on "a couple" deals, but may wait until preseason to sort out which blue liner is the odd man out.

The more likely route to filling Iginla’s shifts is bumping Loui Eriksson up from the third line to play alongside Milan Lucic and David Lucic.

With Lucic and Krejci, Iginla was adding ketchup to an already potent burger. He and Lucic formed a powerful duo up front intimidating defensemen on the forecheck and loosening pucks up along the boards with their caveman strength. Iginla scored 30 goals playing in straight lines off Krejci’s puck-handling and patient delivery.

Eriksson puts mustard on the patty — a complement, but of a different style. Where Iginla is known for the one-timer, Eriksson is a sweet disher. Eriksson is better in front of the net, but won’t win as many puck battles. The Swede prefers to move laterally and around the ice.

The Bruins got a taste of a Lucic-Krejci-Eriksson line late in the season. With Iginla resting minor injuries down the stretch, Eriksson played three games with Lucic and Krejci. In a Saturday matinee against the Flyers, Eriksson had four assists.

"It’s a different look [with Eriksson], but he’s a very smart player," Chiarelli said. "He’s a great two-way player. He plays a very smart game. I saw him play with the Sedins [for Sweden at the Olympics] — he can play at that level. … If you watch how Loui plays, he plays a real give-and-go game, and he’s very smart, passes to areas. He’s very compatible with [Krejci]."

The trickle-down effect is the loss of the devastating third-line combination of Carl Soderberg and Eriksson, the core of the Bruins’ best line in the postseason. Soderberg and Eriksson chewed up and spat out Detroit and Montreal’s third defensive pairs. The two Swedes had natural chemistry.

A Providence potpourri of prospects will get a look in training camp at filling in alongside Soderberg, a group including Matt Fraser, Justin Florek, Ryan Spooner and Alexander Khokhlachev. Daniel Paille could also move up to the third line. Chris Kelly, Spooner and Khokhlachev, all natural centers, may see ice time on the wing.

"There’s a lot of ways you can look at it," Chiarelli said. "I see four or five guys that are going to vie for two spots, as of right now, and I’m kind of excited about it."

Iginla wasn’t the only player who officially became an ex-Bruin on Tuesday. Shawn Thornton signed with the Panthers for two years and $2.4 million. Andrej Meszaros got one year and $4.25 million from the Sabres. Chad Johnson moved to the Islanders for two years at $2.2 million.

Iginla was the big fish though. Not that Chiarelli seemed too worried about it.

"We had a Hall of Famer in [Jaromir] Jagr," the GM mused. "A few years before, we had a Hall of Fame player in [Mark] Recchi, or will be. … We usually manage to rebound."

Dan Cagen can be reached at 508-626-3848 or dcagen@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanCagen.